Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“ H ow can I get married without a dress?” Frances asked when I met her at Vivi’s after my shift for my very last fitting. “What kind of bride am I if I can’t even make this simple decision?”
“Don’t panic yet.” There was no need. I was panicking enough for both of us.
“I’ve still got the one from that shop in Dallas, but it’s not the one. Remind me never to get married again. I’m terrible at this.”
“I’m sure it’s the nerves. You have a lot going on all at once.” I pulled open the heavy glass door and walked inside. “How’s Joey holding up?” Let the record show I was trying. I wanted to like my best friend’s future husband.
“He’s great.” Her forehead wrinkled in a rare-sighted frown. “But he still hasn’t found a job in Cambridge. He’s pretty worried about it.”
“And you?”
“I’m a little concerned too. But it’ll work out, right?”
“I’m sure it will.” Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.
“Ladies, welcome back!” Vivi held out her arms like wings. “Your bridesmaid is here for her last fitting, correct?”
“Yes,” I said .
“Excellent. Right this way.” In a cloud of perfume, Vivi led me to the back where she retrieved the dress then guided me to a dressing room.
“I’m excited to see the gown again,” Frances said.
Vivi pulled my door shut. “It’s a lovely choice.”
I shucked off my clothes, wishing I had thought to bring another shirt to change into. My Micky’s Diner tee didn’t seem quite worthy to be in the same store as thousand dollar dresses.
I had managed to remember to bring my special strapless bra that was a cruel form of torture no female should have to endure. I slipped it on, then zipped myself into the dress as far as I could.
I stepped out of the dressing room and onto the stage area in front of the three-way mirrors.
“Gorgeous!” Vivi exclaimed. She had pins stuck in a tomato-like cushion banded to her wrist like a watch. She pulled the zipper the rest of the way up, then walked a full circle around me and back again. “I think the length is just right, don’t you?”
“It’s perfect,” Frances said, all traces of gloom gone.
I took a good look at myself in the mirror.
The coral provided a nice contrast with my pale skin, but didn’t clash too badly with my red hair.
The bra, though about as comfortable as a corset, was padded enough to make my chest look almost impressive.
The empire waist accented the hourglass shape I had yet to lose on Loretta’s cooking, and the skirt fell in even, flowing pleats to the floor. I felt like a princess.
“What do you think, Katie?” Frances asked.
“I think it’s just right.” Nothing else in my life was—my relationship with Charlie, my career outlook, the fate of my Valiant. But this dress? “It’s exactly how it should be.”
Minutes later, Frances and I walked toward the register, Frances with her smile back in place, and me with the coral dress in a garment bag over my arm. We passed a wall of wedding dresses, one more beautiful than the other.
“Oh, look at this one.” Frances stopped at a lace strapless gown. “She must’ve just gotten this one in. Do you like it?”
“It’s very pretty.” But an ivory A-line next to it caught my eye.
My traitorous hands had a mind of their own and reached out to touch.
It was total vintage chic. Sleeveless, but not strapless.
Lace covering the satin bodice, with a tucked waist and a circular skirt that flared and stopped inches above the ankle.
It wasn’t a dress for a long veil; no, this one needed a pert little fascinator with netting that peeked out to cover the face.
This dress wouldn’t want to go to a formal church wedding, but rather a rustic setting, like a renovated barn or farm. Or my Valiant.
“Try it on.” Frances lifted the dress from the rack. “Do it.”
“No. Don’t be silly.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun. It’ll give you something to do while I’m trying this one.” She handed me the gown. “You know you want to.”
I did want to.
One more costume change later, I again stepped in front of the mirrors, only this time looking like a bride.
The dress was a size too large, but it was still a show stopper.
“My gosh, you’re beautiful.”
I looked up at the sound of the male voice, and the mirror showed Charlie standing behind me.
I turned around, slightly horrified. Who wore wedding dresses if they weren’t a bride? Crazy people. The type who stalked men from the shrubbery and had a collection of restraining orders in their name. “I’m just killing time waiting for Frances.”
But Charlie didn’t look frightened. No, he looked. . .enchanted.
He came my way, his gaze taking in my every lacy part. He lifted my hand, then spun me in a slow turn, causing my heart to thud like a kick drum. “You should get that.”
Every girl should be looked at like this once in their lives. Adoration. Admiration. Heat. Want. And something so much more.
“I should get this for my Friday night trips to the library?”
He kept my hand held lightly in his. “You’re stunning, Katie.”
My breath caught at the reverence in his voice. The warmth in his eyes. “This old thing?”
“Go out with me.”
I blinked at the topic jump.
“Go out with me tonight. Just you and me. Forget everything that’s going on. Forget how you want my head on a stake.” Charlie drew his hand along the edge of the neckline. “I want to see you.”
“I’m. . .I’m busy.”
“Doing what?”
He had me so rattled, I couldn’t even think of a good excuse.
“Well, hey, Charlie.” Frances saved me from sputtering and joined us at the mirror. “That dress did not work at all. Way too poufy.” She gave Charlie an enthusiastic hug. “What’s my future brother-in-law doing here?”
Charlie seemed reluctant to take his focus off me, but he gave Frances an easy smile. “Picking up our ties. Joey got the wrong shade of pink, so Vivi had to order them for us.”
“It’s very sweet of you to do that for him.” Frances grinned as she looked from me to Charlie, as if she had just happened upon a lovers’ tryst. “All rightie then, I’m going to go up front and settle up. See you outside. Take your time. Talk as long as you want. I’m in no rush.”
Frances all but frolicked away, leaving me standing before Charlie in a wedding dress that would belong to someone else. Someone who had her life figured out.
I took a small step back, my lips lifting in an embarrassed smile. “I probably smell like bacon and maple syrup.”
There was that dimple in his left cheek. “Which makes you a man’s walking fantasy.”
Well, then.
He took a step closer, and the air around us seemed to still, like the electric pause before a warm summer storm. “You were saying we should go out tonight.”
I strangely couldn’t recall anything I’d uttered since waking. “I believe that was your idea.”
He considered this as he reached for my hand again. “It was a good one.”
“So wedding dresses do it for Charlie Benson.”
“Just when Katie Parker’s in them.”
Reasons for not going anywhere with Charlie slowly began tapping on my conscience, whispering in my ear. “I should probably stay at home tonight. Get my plans finalized for Frances’s bachelorette party.” Work on my Thrifty Co. defense.
“You gotta eat. And I have it on good authority a number of your provisions got waterlogged.”
“I can go to the grocery store. Eat the stuff Millie left for me in the freezer.”
“Spinach casserole?”
“Don’t forget her famous beet loaf.”
“You hate that stuff.”
“True. But—”
“I’ll pick you up at eight.”
“I didn’t say I’d go.”
He dared a quick kiss to my cheek, his lips lingering near my ear. “There will be pie.”
“Make it seven-thirty.”